11/3/22 Full Edition

Old Gold&Black

"My family would be in danger"

International students face risks in hanging protest posters

BREANNA LAWS Staff Writer

Protest posters criticizing the Chinese gov ernment and Chinese President Xi Jinping are currently hanging in multiple campus build ings at Wake Forest in response to China’s 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing, which elected Jinping to a third term.

Posted on the walls of Manchester Hall, Tribble Hall, ZSR Library and multiple South Campus residence halls, some posters called for the end of Jinping’s presidency, labelling him “a dictator.” Others featured photos from a banner attacking China’s zero-COVID policy that hung on Sitong bridge in Beijing, which, according to the poster, is currently censored in China.

e individual responsible for the banner on the Sitong Bridge in Beijing is referred to as the “banner-man” by many Chinese citizens. At this time, the identity of this individual is unknown.

ough many posters on campus show sup port for this “banner-man,” a student also put up posters in support of Jinping and China’s zeroCOVID policy.

According to reporting from ProPublica, U.S. national security o cials con rmed that Jinping’s government surveils its citizens even outside the country, including on college campuses. Pro Publica also reported instances of international students’ families facing retaliation back home in China for speaking out against the Chinese

Gold & Black respects these requests out of the utmost caution for these students.

For clarity purposes, the students who elected to remain anonymous will be referred to as “Stu dent A” and “Student B.”

An anonymous professor in the Department of Politics and International A airs described the current political situation in China.

“China has just ended the 20th party congress of the CCP, and Jinping is widely expected to be reappointed as the party's general secretary for an unprecedented third term,” they said. “In the past two terms, for 10 years, he has consolidated his power through the periodical change of political elites for political support, constant anti-corrup tion campaigns to eliminate oppositions and the suppression of domestic sharp criticisms.”

Student A, a student involved in putting up the posters, said they printed and posted the material during fall break. ey mentioned that one stu dent involved in hanging the posters has received verbal harassment on Instagram and WeChat, a messaging service owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent.

“I have considered the risk,” Student A said. “But in [the] United States, I have the right to exercise my freedom of [expression].”

e student mentioned dissatisfaction with the zero-COVID policy in China, which, aiming to eliminate the number of COVID-19 cases domes tically, continue to restrict international travel. is created a signi cant barrier when Student A went back to China during the sum mer break. ey had to quaran tine for weeks before returning

eir family had also been negatively impacted by the re strictions, as their father had been unemployed due to the constraint of foreign trade.

“I think the person who put up the banner is cou rageous,” said Student A, referring to the photo of the protest banner in Beijing. “It represents the consciousness of democracy and a ght against authori tarianism. If there is no rule of law and intervening power, dictatorship is inevi

Another student involved, Student B, expressed concern after being harassed online following the putting up of their posters. is student has since reported this incident to the Dean of Students.

At the time of publication, the Dean of Stu dents' O ce did not immediately return the Old Gold & Black’s request for comment.

“If he wanted to report this to the Chinese government, my family would be in danger,” they said.

ey also express concern for other Chinese international students involved in the protest.

“If we want to go back to China, we might be a ected by the things we did.”

Student B claims to have had incidents with the Chinese government and censorship in the past.

ey have had government o cials show up at their house after spreading similar messages back in their home city.

Despite this, the student strongly believes in the positive e ect that placing these posters will have in educating others about the issue.

When asked about how the university should involve itself in the issue, Student B responded saying, “We just want the university to protect our freedom of speech.”

Junior Lance Wang has also put up posters around campus — in opposition to the posters of those supporting the “banner-man” in Beijing.

Wang states that he believes China’s zeroCOVID policy is the best possible strategy for the Chinese government to be taking at this time.

NEWS University to provide winter break housing... Page Four

ENVIRONMENT

The spooky side of buying Halloween ... Page Five

What's Inside

FEATURES

Deacon Profle: Matthew Dailey Page Six

OPINION Is it time to move on from Trump? Page Ten

“Although China has a considerably high vac cination rate, the e ectiveness is much lower than P zer and Moderna due to di erent technology,” Wang said. “China has a much higher population density than that of America, and China’s medical system is still vulnerable and developing in both quantity and quality.”

He continued: “It’s unrealistic for China to coexist with COVID-19 at this point because the price is una ordable, and COVID-zero is the most socially responsible and economically bene cial policy at this point.”

SPORTS 2022 ACC Cross Country Championship Page Sixteen

LIFE What freedom is worth Page Fifteen

“Covers the campus like the magnolias”

“I have considered the risk, but in the United States, I have the right to exercise my freedom of expression.”

Old Gold & Black

is column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board

(Don't) stop the presses

is past weekend, six members of the Old Gold & Black editorial board traveled to our nation’s capital to celebrate the free press, col lege journalism and to hear new perspectives on how to perform the responsibility we take so very dearly — to cover the campus like the magnolias.

At MediaFest 22, we heard from legendary journalists such as John Quiñones, Bill Whita ker, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. eir message to us was clear: dig deeper and make sure the communities you hold dear are in formed. We are committed to doing both. We would be remiss, however, after spend ing a weekend feting the free press, not to com ment on a few concerning trends we see devel oping in terms of free expression both abroad and at home.

is week, the Old Gold & Black’s frontpage story recounts the e orts of Chinese in ternational students and Chinese-American students to protest Xi Jinping’s government in China. A life article on pg. 14 tells a similar

story in the rst person. ere is a reason that most of the students and sources quoted in the front-page article, as well as the author of the life article, chose to remain anonymous. While we applaud the courage these students (and professor) took in speaking their truth to the Old Gold & Black, we condemn in the stron gest possible terms the media surveillance and restriction of free expression that led to their decision to remain anonymous.

But let us be clear: restrictions on free expres sion do not begin, nor do they end in China. Last semester, in Texas, the administration of Texas A&M shuttered its school newspaper’s print edition — a move, as recent reporting reveals, that was inspired by a shady group of alumni and in uencers. e Texas A&M Bat talion did not back down and continued print ing its newspaper. For its e orts throughout this ordeal, the Battalion was awarded the Stu dent Press Freedom Award from the Student Press Law Center last Friday.

e Battalion’s story is a reminder that the

right to a free press that we often take for granted can be taken away. According to Re porters Without Borders, the United States now ranks 42nd of 180 countries in terms of press freedom, indicating a problematic climate for journalists. One of the indicators of an un safe climate — as Reporters Without Borders recognizes — is harassment, and yes, we at the Old Gold & Black have faced harassment for reporting the news. Defending press freedom is important because its abridgment can happen anywhere at any time.

Harrassment aside, we at the Old Gold & Black recognize that when we proclaim the vir tues of a free press, we do so from a position of privilege. Although we are not economically in dependent from Wake Forest, we have full edi torial independence, due to an administration that may not always see eye to eye with us but respects the importance of a campus newspaper that can report without fear. It is that freedom which has allowed us to deliver award-winning coverage on topics such as the Weaver Fire,

Old Gold&Black

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ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR pierav20@wfu.edu

>> POLICIES

The Old Gold & Black is published every other Thursday during the school year, except during examinations, summer and holiday peri ods, by Triangle Printing of Durham. © 2022 WFU Media Board. All rights reserved. The views expressed in all editorials and advertise ments contained within this publication do not necessarily refect the opinions of the OGB.

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COOPER SULLIVAN

MULTIMEDIA MANAGING EDITOR sullcg20@wfu.edu

social justice, mental health and COVID-19. Today and every day, we recommit to deliver ing the best possible coverage of this campus and community that we can muster. It is our profound wish that everyone, everywhere who wishes to do the work of good journalism is able to do so anywhere.

So here’s to a free press, here’s to seeking truth and reporting it, here’s to minimizing harm, here’s to being accountable and transparent, here’s to acting independently — and here’s to covering the campus like the magnolias.

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It is our profound wish that everyone, everywhere who wishes to do the work of good journalism is able to do so anywhere.

“

Protest Posters: Students offer different viewpoints

from Page 1

In response to the posters criticizing Jinping, Wang said: “It’s irresponsible to stigmatize President Jinping just because he has claimed a third term. Democracy is a very broad and subtle term, and the form of de mocracy varies among di erent pragmatic situations, social culture and historical periods.”

“I have a good understanding of Jinping’s history and the history of the CCP, and I think his econom ic philosophies and pragmatic values have made his place in the party,” Wang said. “It’s always good to be skeptical, but what the poster expressed is pure hate and malice, and they failed to consider both sides of Jinping’s third term.”

Wang continued: “I [oppose] the people who put-up these irresponsible posters because they just talk but have never taken action. It’s important to understand that no civil struggles are solely because of the govern ment and usually take long-term consistent e orts.”

He also explained that these posters perpetuate bias against the Chinese government.

“For some self-evident reasons, China and the Chi nese government are portrayed in a negative way by Western mainstream politicians, and these mislead ing posters will do nothing but strengthen this bias,” Wang said.

Wang concludes with a request to those responsible for the original posters: “Talk less, and do more.”

Despite respecting opposing opinions, Student A re sponded to Wang’s argument with disapproval.

“If you look at the process of changing the constitu tion in any other countries, not a single one of them has such a high approval rate in China, not even in Russia,” they said. “It is a step back for democracy.”

ey also said that Wang’s comparison between Jin ping and Angela Merkel, former Chancellor of Ger many, is problematic, remarking that Merkel’s 16-year reign in her position is a result of an “authentic civic election.”

e U.S. government has expressed its disapproval of Jinping’s third term. In response, the U.S. govern

ment has announced a large ban that will block China’s access to the purchasing and production of advanced semiconductor chips.

Given the increased international tension, the aforementioned Wake Forest professor believes that Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party are trying to tighten their grip on the govern ment to ensure domestic stability and national unity.

He also released a statement to the Old Gold & Black regarding how these issues may be im pacting international students from China.

“It may be an unpleasant and awkward situ ation for international students from China whenever their class discussions and personal conversation with friends are related to China.”

He continued: “We all need to remind our selves of the academic institution’s mission in education and commitment to knowledge ad vancement through [the] free exchange of ideas and tolerance of various perspectives. All these can be achieved by empathic understanding, ra tional dialogues and reasonable arguments.”

Editor’s Note: Another writer contributed to this article but has chosen to remain anonymous due to fear of reprisal.

Contact Breanna Laws at lawsbn21@wfu.edu

CORRECTION

In an article in our Oct. 20 print issue entitled, “Supreme Court to hear A rmative Action lawsuits; WFU will remain committed to diversity”, the lede of the story read: “Despite the Supreme Court hearing a challenge to a rmative action

Oct. 31, Wake

O ce of Admissions

the Old Gold & Black that its admissions process will not change.” is lede has been updated on our website

more accurately re ect the O ce of Ad missions’ position that its values will not change when it comes to admissions. It now reads: “Despite the Supreme Court hearing a challenge to a rma tive action on Oct. 31, Wake Forest’s O ce of Admissions assured the Old Gold & Black that it will remain committed to the values of inclusivity.”

POLICE BEAT

• ree males that are not a liated with Wake Forest University were driving around campus in a silver Nissan Frontier. One of the males rolled down the back window and shot unknown objects from a gun at two students. e gun was described to be partially orange and when red a white light lit up. One of the students was grazed by an object that was red from the gun. e students did not want to press charges. e report was led on Oct. 25 at 8:54 p.m.

• An unknown subject took a black scooter with a red front tire stolen at Farrell Hall. e report was led on Oct. 27 at 6:01 p.m.

• Unknown subject(s) took a backpack, laptop and property from the Reynolds Gym. e report was led on Oct. 28 at 4:30 p.m.

• A student consumed alcohol underage in Poteat Hall. e report was led on Oct. 28 at 10:44 p.m.

• A student consumed alcohol and smoked marijuana at an o -campus party on Rosedale Circle. e report was led on Oct. 29 at 12:55 a.m.

• A student drank at an o -campus party on Long Drive (possibly Lambda Chi) and was brought back to campus by her roommate. e report was led on Oct. 29 at 2:17 a.m.

on

Forest’s

assured

to

Evan Harris/Old Gold&Black

A few Chinese students printed and hung posters in campus buildings to protest the reelection of Xi Jinping and China’s COVID-19 policies.

Evan Harris/Old Gold&Black

Christa Dutton/Old Gold&Black

University to provide winter break housing for international students; Chinese students still face obstacles in returning home

HOPE ZHU Staff Writer

e university plans to provide win ter break housing for international students this winter break, according to Associate Director of Operations of Residential Life and Housing Zach ary Blackmon. Many of Wake Forest’s 323 Chinese international students will choose to remain in the United States because of China’s COVID-19 quarantine policies.

Residence Life and Housing has not yet announced what kind of housing will be available or where. As details are solidi ed, the o ce will share an update with the student body.

Last year, Residence Life announced that the university would not provide housing during winter break on Oct. 4, 2021, causing frustration and dis satisfaction among international stu dents since the pandemic continued to a ect travel to di erent countries. After the Old Gold & Black pub lished a report by Mingxuan Zhu, Dexter Peters and Elena Marsh high lighting the dilemma, Residence Life and Housing updated its winter break policy.

Winter break housing is a neces sary accommodation for Chinese in ternational students because travel ing home to China is both costly and

inconvenient because of quarantine policies still in place in China. Chi na still requires a 14-day quarantine upon arrival in either a governmentselected facility or a hotel at the trav eler’s expense, making travel di cult and inconvenient for Chinese inter national students. Winter break is roughly four weeks long, and Chinese students have to spend half of that isolated from their families.

As the rest of the world lifts its CO VID-19 policies to the point where it creates no restrictions on day-to-day life, China is still highly responsive to any sign of a COVID-19 outbreak due to the government’s zero-COVID policy. According to the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, the number of new cases across 31 provinces was 521 on Oct 5. Only two of these were con sidered serious cases.

Chinese residents remain concerned about the spread of the virus. Sopho more Andrea Zhang, who already bought the ticket home for the up coming winter break, is concerned about the discrimination she might face going back home.

“My dad is traveling for business all over the places in China,” Zhang said. “When he comes back, maybe the places he has gone [became places of high COVID-19 risk]. is [subjects him to] discriminat[ion]because peo

ple in our community will treat him as a threat.”

As of Nov.1, 2,889 areas in China have been categorized as “highly risky”, including many business dis tricts and neighborhoods in major cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In these high-risk areas, many restric tions are still in place. A negative CO VID-19 test result within 24 hours is still required to use public transpor tation. Residents must also take two COVID-19 tests every three days, and sightseeing and mass gatherings have been prohibited.

“I planned to travel around when I went back,” sophomore Emily Liu said. “But I could not go to a lot of places because of the restrictions, and I feared that I would not be able to return to the school if I became a close contact of a virus carrier.”

In addition to the inconvenience of COVID-19 policies, cost also plays a factor in students’ decisions to stay.

Emily Liu paid an estimated $10,000 to travel home last summer. is amount included her ight, multiple COVID-19 tests, a seven-day hotel stay in Los Angeles and a 21-day ho tel stay in China for quarantine. She would likely pay a similar amount to travel home for winter break.

On Aug. 25, 2022, a new health declaration form was released by the General Administration of Customs

declaring the removal of COVID-19 tests for international arrivals. is is a silver lining for Chinese interna tional students who wish to go home during the upcoming winter break.

“I think things will get better,” said junior Richard Zhang, who also bought a plane ticket to China in De cember.

Zhang’s primary concern now shifts to the transition from the break to the start of the spring semester.

“I expect to arrive at midnight be fore the rst day of class,” Zhang said. “If there [was] a possible accommo dation for students like me that can be implemented by Wake Forest, that [would] be great.”

Echo Liu agreed that the university should consider some exibilities with its schedule and housing to meet the needs of its largest share of interna tional students.

“I don’t feel like the university is giving enough attention to its inter national students in general,” said Echo Liu. “It is very important that the school should come up with some policies since we, as students, are un able to avoid certain time con icts, and not every professor will under stand us. We are entirely dependent on ourselves.”

Contact Hope Zhu at zhuq21@wfu.edu

Photos: Students host annual Project Pumpkin festival

ENVIRONMENT

The spooky side of buying Halloween costumes firsthand

HOPE ZHU Staff Writer

Before you order that wacky Halloween costume on Amazon this year, think about the 2,000 tons of waste in the UK alone that will be sent to land lls following this year’s Halloween festivities.

In light of this troubling statistic, one Wake Forest student is determined to lend a touch of green to all that orange and black by holding the rst-ever sustain able costume contest on campus on Oct 28, the Friday before Halloween.

“If for one day, I can get as many people as possible to wear a sustainable costume, ” senior Roxie Ray, orga nizer of the sustainable costume contest, said. “Hope fully, [the costume] waste [at Wake Forest] can be re duced by a signi cant amount.”

As a Sustainable Clothing and Style Intern in the Wake Forest O ce of Sustainability, Ray wanted the participants of the sustainable costume contest to per petuate the idea of reusing clothes in di erent ways in their lives after their rst wear.

“One of the main focuses I’ve had in promoting this event is trying to in engage students that aren’t typically engaged with sustainability, “ said Ray, “I am trying to change the narrative of sustainability, showing that it can also be really fun and exciting.”

e festive shopping frenzy of Halloween has left its spookiest aftermath in this most recent decade. e aforementioned 2,000 tons of waste is equivalent to 83 million plastic bottles, according to a study conducted by a London-based environmental charity, Hubbub. It takes 20 to two hundred years to decompose the poly ester in the costumes.

e same survey revealed that 82.5% of Halloween costume materials contained plastic and that seven mil lion Halloween costumes are thrown away each year. While the exact corresponding statistic is unavailable in the US, the amount of waste is only scarier. Over 5.4 million kilograms of textile waste are produced by businesses and consumers throwing away Halloween costumes in the US every year.

With each passing year, Americans continue to spend more. According to a press release by National Retail Federation on Sept. 19, 2022, total Halloween spend ing across the US spiked to $10.6 billion, exceeding last year’s record of $10.1 billion. $3.6 billion of those dollars go towards costume spending.

Students and faculty were able to enter the costume contest as an individual, a duo, or a group. Every con testant was asked to come up on the stage and describe the sustainable component of their out t. While the contestants stood on the stage, the audience voted on their favorite costumes on their phones, Ray said.

After running through everyone, the points for each contestant were calculated and the winner was an nounced. In addition to the highly coveted pumpkin trophy, the winner was awarded the chance to pick 10 people to enjoy a gourmet meal from Under the Oaks.

In the end, junior Una Wilson, who wore a mush room costume made from clothing items she either already owned or had thrifted, took the rst place prize (managing editor’s note: this article was originally published as a preview online and has since been changed to re ect the name of the winner. e fact that the win ner mentioned in this article is our environment editor is entirely coincidental, and Una Wilson did not have any editorial involvement with this paragraph). Senior Hain Henderson was the runner-up in second place with a knight costume featuring chainmail he had created us ing pop tabs at the Wakerspace.

“I’ve probably spent like 20 hours just on promot ing,” said Ray with a proud smile, “I just went through the list of campus organizations and started emailing all of them.”

ough many registered on the day of the contest, a variety of student organizations like Girl Up and Wake Radio, as well as interns like those from the O ce of Sustainability, signed up with group representatives be forehand.

“We are going to dress like frogs and toads because we all happen to have a lot of green and brown clothes, ” said Gretchen Castelloe, the Sustainability and the Arts Intern from the O ce of Sustainability, “But we don’t have to go shopping for anything as we can just wear stu that we already have.”

Castelloe also mentioned that some sorority mem bers are planning to provide extra costumes for those who want to participate but don’t have one.

“I think that sustainability is becoming a bigger is sue at Wake because the theme is getting trendy, ” said Castelloe, “ e younger generations and the older gen erations are all aware that we should stop damaging the earth.”

Brian Cohen, assistant director for Sustainable En gagement in the O ce of Sustainability, helps plan stu dent initiatives like Ray’s costume contest. Cohen said that the power of popular culture has worked in favor of promoting the sustainable development of fashion, especially when it comes to practices like thrifting.

“ e best thing to do when it comes to fashion is that most people make decisions based on what they think is popular,” said Cohen, “If we can elevate the pro le of secondhand clothing to show how popular it is, it can win more people over.”

e sustainable costume contest was held in Pugh Auditorium at 5:00 pm on Friday, Oct. 28. Roughly forty people were in attendance, and enjoyed a live per formance from the Wake Forest student band, SCOBY, before and after the costume contest.

by Una Wilson/ Old Gold & Black Contact Hope Zhu at zhuq21@wfu.edu

Ray recognized the dark side of feverish consumerism associated with holiday celebrations, which was her pri mary motivation behind hosting Friday’s contest.

“At Wake, where people are relatively a uent, almost every day in a Halloween week, there is a di erent event, ” said Ray, “But I doubt people are going to change af ter the contest. So they will wear a sustainable costume to whatever parties they’re going to that night.”

According to Ray, contestants’ costumes are required to contain certain sustainable elements, which could mean either a component of the costume was pur chased secondhand, or recycled from clothes that you already owned or borrowed from somebody else.

Asst. Addison Schmidt, schmac21@wfu.edu

Una Wilson, wilsui20@wfu.edu

How Wake Forest is fghting back against the usual food of overconsumption this Halloween

Graphics

Photo courtesy of Brian Cohen

Junior Una Wilson won first place with her mushroom costume made of fabrics thrifted from the Goodwill bins and items she already had at home.

FEATURES

Meredith Prince, prinmc21@wfu.edu

Chase Bagnall-Koger, bagncm21@wfu.edu

DEACON PROFILE Matthew Dailey

ADDISON BERRY Staff Writer

Sophomore ROTC cadet Matthew Dailey has always known that he wanted to be in the U.S. Army. When he was lit tle, he loved Civil War comic books, mil itary themed coloring books and playing with his hundreds of little Army soldier figurines. Dailey’s interest stems from his relationship with his father, John Dai ley (‘87), who was also a ROTC cadet at Wake Forest and went on to serve as an officer in the U.S. Army.

“My dad has influenced me in a lot of ways,” Dailey shared. “He shows me how important it is to keep a level head in all situations no matter how much stress you’re under or how bad things are. He is also very stoic and that’s one of the things he’s taught me. It really relates to being in the Army because things really never go as planned and it’s a very stressful and anxiety-inducing atmosphere.”

When Dailey received a four-year ROTC Scholarship at Wake Forest, his dreams of joining the U.S. Army be came a reality. He is now an MS II, the Sophomore ranking, in the program. Apart from the day-to-day ROTC com mitments — including workouts three to five times a week — Dailey had the unique opportunity to attend Army Mountain Warfare School for two weeks in September.

Army Mountain Warfare School of fers a two-week-intensive Basic and Advanced Mountaineering courses multiple times a year at Camp Ethan Allen Training Site in Jericho, Vermont. Dailey was selected by a Wake Forest Cadre to attend the summer course in Septem ber of this year.

“You go for two weeks. In the first week, they break you in a little bit with classroom stuff,” Dailey said. “You start going out into the field on Wednesday of the first week, and then after that you go out to the field every day until you leave.”

While out on the field, the ca dets are trained in mountain warfare and cold weather combat skills and tactics before they are tested

on them on the final day of camp. These skills include an array of ropes tests and systems, such as hauling, rappelling, and body-carrying sys tems, among other things.

Each day Dailey woke up at 6:15 a.m., put on his uniform, went to the dining facility, gathered his gear and reported with his squad for check-in before being out on the field by 7:15 a.m. His squad would then ruck — a jog or fast-walk in uniform with a rucksack — for miles to get to the designated training spot for the day.

“Sometimes the rucks were very difficult, and sometimes they were shorter,” Dailey said. “The last one we did was around four miles. We went up a mountain, back down it, walked over a mile, and then went up like a two-and-a-halfmile mountain. There were people throwing up during it.”

Once the team got to the training spot for the day, they were taught the ropes systems and oth er skills for that day.

“You could be rappelling rock climbing rope systems, or whatever the lesson was for the day. You would do that for about 2-3 hours, eat lunch, and then practice that skill again or walk somewhere else — about another two miles or so — to do another skill.”

The training did not stop after returning from the field. Sometimes, the cadets had multiple classroom sessions in the evenings. Dailey prac ticed his ropes every night before going to bed.

“Everyday consisted of rucking up to six or

seven miles in the mountains, practic ing rope systems, a class or two and then practicing on your own. If you don’t practice on your own, you’re screwed,” Dailey said.

Six undergraduate cadets were cho sen to attend the camp. By the end of camp, Dailey was one of only three un dergraduate cadets to graduate from the program.

“The feeling that I got when I finished was pretty awesome,” Dailey said. “I had been preparing for it for four months, and I hadn’t thought about anything else. It was the first thing I thought of every day for that whole time. Finishing it was very, very rewarding.”

The part-classroom-and-field-train ing-course is one of the smallest of the Army training schools. Dailey is one of only five Wake Forest cadets to have had the opportunity to attend. Other train ing schools include Airborne, Air As sault and Northern Warfare, which have had 170, 55, and seven Wake Forest ca dets attend each, respectively.

“It’s pretty unique in that a lot of peo ple are selected to do it, and it gives you a lot of respect among the other ROTC cadets and cadres,” Dailey said.

Besides Dailey, senior cadet Andrew Harlow is the only other Wake Forest cadet to attend Mountain Warfare in the past 20 years. Harlow attended the camp last year and was able to share his experiences and knowledge with Dailey before Dailey left for Mountain Warfare this year. Dailey truly believes he could not have succeeded without Harlow’s support.

“I credit all my success to Harlow because right when we found out I got selected, he gave me all the equipment he used to practice when he went,” Dailey said. “It was his equipment and his pointers that helped me excel when I got there.”

When the ROTC cadets are commissioned during their senior year, each cadet receives a score that will be used to determine their po sition in the Army after they graduate. Going to a training school like Mountain Warfare can help boost a cadet’s score and open up more op portunities. Dailey hopes that graduating from Mountain Warfare will help him receive the Infantry slot he is hoping for after his time at Wake Forest.

Apart from getting him closer to his career as pirations, Dailey brought home many life les sons from the program.

“It definitely wasn’t easy at any point,” Dailey said. “The fact that it was very hard gave me more confidence in school. I was behind in all my classes when I got back. I studied a lot there and knew I could catch back up here. It kind of confirmed the idea that I can do hard things, because that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Contact Addison Berry at berraf20@wfu.edu

OLD GOLD & BLACK

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Dailey

Photo Courtesy of Matthew Dailey

The Army Mountain Warfare School group gathers together for a photo after a day full of training and tests.

Visit the ‘one-man show’ at Murphy’s Lunch

Located in Downtown Winston-Salem, this diner is 72 years old and is now fully operated by one man

YUSHUO WANG Staff Writer

Whoosh, clatter, jingle. e minute hand of the wall clock ticked past 11:30 a.m. Din ers led in and out non-stop, shu ing around the room and lling cups from the drink ma chine. A man in a bottle-green T-shirt and black apron stood behind the grill station, busy using a spatula to ip burgers while the hot oil sizzled.

John A. Nikas, chef and owner of Murphy’s Lunch on ird Street in downtown Win ston-Salem, greeted each customer without missing a beat at the grill. In no more than 10 minutes, all the customers, whether white-col lar workers with waist-pinned name tags, el derly couples taking time savoring pork chops or o -duty Winston-Salem Fire Department workers, received their dine-in plates or to-go containers.

To ensure this quick service, Nikas arrives at Murphy’s Lunch every Monday to Friday between 7-7:30 a.m. He tries to have every thing ready by 11:00 a.m. when the restaurant opens.

“ is week was a pretty good week,” Ni kas said. According to him, every day from 2 p.m. until the restaurant closes at 5 p.m. is the only time he feels the bustling atmosphere slow down. at’s when Nikas settles down at a table to treat himself to a cup of co ee and a bowl of co ee-and-candy-chips ice cream.

Except for the occasional times when one of his daughters assists him at the restaurant, Ni kas has been running Murphy’s Lunch alone since he reopened it in May 2022.

“Now John was trying this very new idea for us — a one-man show. One man running ev erything,” said Jerry Greco, whom Nikas con sidered a family customer at Murphy’s Lunch.

Murphy’s Lunch, a 72-year-old downtown institution that Nikas took over in 2010, closed temporarily in April 2020 when the COVID–19 pandemic hit. According to Ni kas, he did not initially plan to shut down the business and hoped to keep it open by chang ing its dining-in mode to a takeaway model. However, when people switched to working from home, fewer customers came to support the business, and Nikas decided to close it.

Greco was impressed by the steps Nikas took to prepare to reopen Murphy’s Lunch, which included repainting all the walls, replac ing the original ceiling with new tiles and add ing a new awning in front of the restaurant.

Brian Gravely, a frequent visitor of Mur phy’s Lunch, stopped by one recent afternoon.

“[Nikas] has items on his hot bar for lunch that you normally can’t get anywhere else un less you cook them at home,” said Gravely, who usually comes in and gets whatever the hot bar serves. On his plate that day were panfried boneless pork chops, creamed potatoes with gravy, lima beans and a dinner roll with

butter.

e hot bar at Murphy’s Lunch is what distinguishes it from many other restaurants downtown. Laid out in a cafeteria style, the hot table consists of dishes that change fre quently.

“You can come here almost every day and still get something di erent all the time,” Steve Mcdowall said. He pointed at the two meat loaf slices on his plate that Murphy’s Lunch is famous for.

Pam Mcadoo, who visited Murphy’s Lunch three times a week before the pandemic, missed the breakfast Nikas used to o er before the pandemic.

“He made the best omelet in the whole wide world,” Mcadoo said. “He takes time with his food and cares about how it tastes to the cus tomer. And I will give him credit for that.”

According to Nikas, people want conve nience more for breakfast than other meals.

“Breakfast is very di cult to do as a solo,” Nikas said. He plans to start serving breakfast again when the roads closed for construction on ird Street reopen. Recently, he added an ice cream bar to attract young, school-aged children with the knowledge that the con struction was for a new location of Kaleideum, a children’s museum.

In the future, Nikas would like Murphy’s Lunch to be fully sta ed in order to provide better customer service and ensure its long-

term survival.

“Because I’m serving other people, and I’m by myself, I don’t have the time to show that same excitement to see them,” Nikas said. He wants to spend more time taking care of his customers, especially the regular ones who came to congratulate him on its reopening.

“I want to keep adding to [Murphy’s Lunch’s] future,” Nikas said.

Contact Yushuo Wang at wangy220@wfu.edu

ANITA DONGIEUX Staff Writer

Wake Forest’s campus is lled with stu dent-run organizations that cater to stu dents who are looking to get involved in philanthropic work, make an impact on their community, and have a space outside of academics to meet new people; Woof Forest is certainly not an exception.

Calling all dog lovers, Woof Forest is a chartered student organization that helps bridge the connection between Wake For est and the great Winston-Salem area by working with various animal shelters in the area and advocating for animal welfare.

Most recently, Woof Forest put on their Barktoberfest event — which takes place annually around the Halloween season — in which a local shelter brought a few of their dogs to campus. is group event, in addition to being a place for animal lov ers to gather and play with pups, features a Halloween costume contest where any Wake-a liated dog owner can bring their dogs decked out in costume.

Sophomore and secretary of Woof For est, Lilli Ward, describes Barktoberfest as one of her favorite events put on by Woof Forest, but not nearly all that the organiza tion contributes to campus life. Puppies on the Quad, she re ects, is one of Woof For est’s most popular events.

Once or twice a semester, dogs from ei ther Yadkin County Humane Society or Forsyth Humane Society come to campus and interact with Wake Forest students. e students pay money to pet and play with the animals while all the proceeds go towards that speci c charity. Ward further discusses that sometimes this event will pair with other organizations on campus,

one example being Greek Life chapters, to help promote the event.

Junior and President of Woof Forest, Sa vannah Longo, similarly awaits Puppies on e Quad as she shares its strategic plan ning.

“We plan to have another Puppies On e Quad event before the end of the se mester, around nals week to help alleviate some of the stress of nals,” Longo said.

One thing that Woof Forest prides itself on is being a club that helps to connect students with ful lling activities but does not overwhelm them with too many time commitments or strenuous activities, pro viding an outlet for Wake Forest students who want to get involved but do not want to add too much to their plate.

Ward recalls how she originally got in volved with Woof Forest. After hearing from word of mouth what the club was about, she was immediately drawn into its mission and agenda.

“I am a dog lover at heart,” Ward said. “Having dogs at home that I always miss while I’m at school, being a part of Woof Forest is able to provide me that same com fort that I get from spending time with my dogs at home.”

Ward illustrates the club as giving that “home away from home” feel, which is something that she believes a lot of Wake Forest students could bene t from; plus, she adds that getting to help out the Win ston-Salem animal community is an added bonus.

Woof Forest tends to attract those who are passionate about animals; as many members, inducing Sophomore Deirde Tighe, embody: “I really enjoy being in Woof Forest because it is a place where dog

lovers can come together and help raise money for really important causes,” Tighe said.

In terms of upcoming events to an ticipate, Hearts for Hounds, a Valentine’s Day-themed event, will soon be in the works: another rendition of Puppies on the Quad that gathers various members of the Wake Forest and Winston-Salem commu nity together to spread some extra love for animals in need.

ese events can be positive experiences

for the dogs and students alike; last year, Woof Forest partnered with the Student Government for Mental Health Week to put on Hearts for Hounds. rough Woof Forest’s desire to bring happiness to not only these animals but also Wake Forest students, this partnership helped to further implement stress relief through philan thropic work.

Contact Anita Dongieux at dongap21@wfu.edu@wfu.edu

The organization hold events where students can play with and care for dogs from local shelters

‘Woof’ Forest brings job to dogs and students alike

The central location of Murphy’s Lunch draws workers in for a quick meal.

Students at last year’s Puppies on the Quad event came out to help raise funds for Yadkin Country Animal Shelter and relieve stress.

Photo courtesy of @wfuwoo orest on Instagram

Yushuo Wang/ Old Gold & Black

OLD GOLD & BLACK

Environmental Activism

Sophie Guymon, guymsm20@wfu.edu

Maryam

Khanum, khanmg20@wfu.edu

Mixing tomato soup with oil

Emma Shuford Contributing Columnist

On Oct. 14, two protestors from the activist group Just Stop Oil threw tomato soup on one of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous artworks, “Sun owers”. e demonstration took place in Room 43 of the National Gallery in London.

e two activists, 21-year-old Phoebe Plummer and 20-year-old Anna Holland, threw tomato soup on “Sun owers” before sitting on the oor in front of the paint ing and gluing their hands to the wall below the iconic artwork.

With her hands glued to the wall, Plummer spoke to the room of onlookers.

“What is worth more – art or life?” Plummer asked. “Is it worth more than food? Worth more than justice? Are you more concerned about the protection of a painting, or the protection of our planet and people? e cost of living crisis is part of the cost of oil crisis. Fuel is una ordable to millions of cold, hungry families. ey can’t even a ord to heat a tin of soup.”

Both Plummer and Holland were arrested and charged with criminal damage and aggravated trespass. e women appeared at a hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Oct. 15 and pleaded not guilty to criminal damage to the painting’s frame. ey were released on bail with a trial date set for Dec. 13 at the City of London Magistrates’ Court.

Painted in 1888, the famous “Sun owers” painting is worth about $80.99 million. While there is minimal dam age to the frame, the painting itself is unharmed after the incident. e painting — covered by glass — was cleaned and put back in place that Friday afternoon, six hours after the incident occurred.

e spokesperson for the group, Mel Carrington, stated that the activists did not intend to damage the painting, which they knew was covered by protective glass. ey only wanted to spark awareness and debate.

“Today’s action comes after two weeks of continued civil resistance by supporters of Just Stop Oil,” Carrington said in a press release. “ e disruption is in response to the gov

ernment’s inaction on both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis.”

Only three months earlier, di erent Just Stop Oil mem bers pasted paper over another famous work of art, John Constable’s “ e Hay Wain”. ese protests are part of the group’s larger movement to challenge the use of fossil fuels and promote discussion about climate and environmental issues.

In Glasgow, ve Just Stop Oil members held a similar demonstration at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Mu seum in July 2022 during which they glued themselves to

Minister Liz Truss to explore new areas for obtaining oil and gas in the North Sea. e government also nulli ed a fracking ban that was introduced in 2019.

us, in an e ort to bring awareness to these issues, Just Stop Oil has been targeting these paintings because of their use of oil paints. For the past two weeks, the group has held numerous protests in London. On their organiza tion’s website, there are numerous articles regarding their actions and protests.

e recent incident concerning the beloved van Gogh painting has taken the internet and social media by storm. Plummer and Holland have gone viral on social media platforms — one of their videos gained 11 million views. Perspectives on the actions of Just Stop Oil are mixed as heated debates continue on Twitter.

e group has been the subject of criticism from other environmental groups and individuals across the political spectrum. Conversely, they have been applauded by g ures such as NASA climate scientist Peter Kalmus. Others, such as University of Pennsylvania climate scientist Mi chael Mann, fear that Just Stop Oil’s vandalism will deter some people from activism aimed at climate issues as a whole.

“

ey’re very intense,” Caroline Mederos (‘26), an Art History major at Wake Forest, said. “I’m extremely upset that they chose to target a painting at all — let alone one by such an unproblematic artist — to attempt to get global attention when there are so many other ways that public attention can be achieved.”

a famous artwork — this time Horatio McCulloch’s “My Heart in the Highlands”.

Just Stop Oil has held about half a dozen similar pro tests. e group is now being copied by activists in Italy and Germany.

e aims of the activists are noble ones: to convince the U.K. government to cease the progression and manufac turing of fossil fuels, as well as to promote further discus sion among a broader audience about the challenges to our earth. is particular soup demonstration was spurred on by a decision from the U.K. government and former Prime

However, the group did achieve its goal of attracting public attention. It is now time to see what they will do with it. While they gained attention and views on media platforms, Just Stop Oil has also disillusioned individuals with their methods, likely a ecting the appreciation of the larger issues they address. Climate change and the e ects of fossil fuel use on the declining environment are pressing issues — no doubt — but the means of gaining help for the planet are important to consider as well.

Contact Emma Shuford at shufee22@wfu.edu

e views expressed in all opinion columns represent those of the article’s author, not the opinions of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board

"While they gained attention and views ... Just Stop Oil has also disillusioned individu als with their methods, likely a ecting the appreciation of the larger issues they address."

WONG QUARTER BREAKS BARRIERS

LUCY ROBERTS Staff Columnist

There is a new face featured on the quarter, which went into circulation on Monday, Oct. 24.

Anna May Wong is the first Asian Ameri can to be on U.S. currency. The tails side of the quarter depicts her face resting upon her hand — her name appears next to her. .

A Chinese American actress, Wong is widely considered to be the first Asian American mov ie star. In the 1920s, Wong rose to stardom and gained international recognition for her roles during a time when anti-Chinese sentiment and practices were normalized through yellow face and the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which remained in place until 1943.

The Wong quarter is the fifth to be released in the American Women Quarters Program, which calls for five new coins each year from 2022 to 2025 that “[celebrate] the accomplish ments and contributions made by women of the United States,” according to the U.S. Mint.

The coin was designed by Emily S. Dam stra, who wanted to feature “the features that helped make her so compelling and memora ble,” including her signature hair, narrow eye brows, eyes and lips. Wong was often depicted with her hands posed elegantly near her face, so Damstra rested Wong’s chin on her hand, with one finger gently pointing to her name to “suggest she has been waiting for the kind of recognition that being on a United States coin might finally bring.”

“This quarter is designed to reflect the breadth and depth of accomplishments by Anna May Wong, who overcame challenges and obstacles she faced during her lifetime,” the director of the U.S. Mint, Ventris Gibson said.

Wong, born in 1905 in Los Angeles as a third-generation Chinese American, landed her first leading role at 17 in the 1922 silent film, “The Toll of the Sea.” But the roles of fered to Wong were stereotypical and required her to embody problematic tropes such as the submissive lotus blossom or the sexually devi ant dragon lady.

Wong’s identity as an Asian American woman limited her to roles such as the villain or self-sac rificing character. She famously referred to her self as “the actress who died a thousand deaths”

be cause the plot called for her charac ter to be killed off in every role she played.

Due to laws against interracial rela tionships and romances, Wong was unable to be cast in leading roles that required a romance with the leading male actors who were pre dominantly white. Unwilling to be relegated to stereotypical background roles, Wong moved to Europe, where she was able to play lead roles that catapulted her to global stardom.

When she returned to Hollywood, Wong was outspoken about the discrimination she faced. “I was so tired of the parts I had to play,” Wong said in 1933. “Why is it that the screen Chinese is nearly always the villain of the piece, and so cruel a villain? We are not like that.”

Wong used her fame to speak against depic tions of Asian characters in the media in ways that had never been done before. Wong’s activ ism is impressive because she chose to embark on a lonely path, seeking to challenge an indus try dominated by white people and resist the racist typecasting within it.

Wong helped pave the way for her fellow ac tors of color and was the first Asian American actress to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

The importance of meaningful representa tion in media has only become more apparent as we see the continued prevalence of antiAsian rhetoric and violence in our country, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The harmful stereotypes of today perpetu ate the fetishization and dehumanization of Asian American women, mirroring the roles that were widely available for Wong to portray.

The hypersexualization that Wong expe rienced continues today, and has combined with the lack of positive media representation to create false ideas about Asian women. These negative stereotypes transcend crude fantasy and become a dangerous reality for so many of these women.

The next time you receive change, look for Anna May Wong on the quarter. She will be peering at you from under her signature bangs, imploring you to know her story so you may question the stereotypical portray als you see on the screen and challenge the ways in which they manifest in our reality.

Contact Lucy Roberts at robels20@wfu.edu

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Mint

VIRGINIA NOONE Photography Editor

On Thursday, Oct. 6, President Joe Biden pardoned over 6,500 people who were con victed under federal law of simple possession of cannabis since the 1970s. Though this is a major step in the legalization of cannabis, the majority of those convicted of simple posses sion fall under state law. Therefore, it’s ulti mately up to governors and state legislatures to follow suit, a step the president is urging them to take.

Biden’s pardon — coming right before midterm elections — has pushed the ongo ing debate about cannabis to the forefront of national and state politics. Democrats hope the push to legalize and decriminalize canna bis will energize younger, college-age voters in swing states like North Carolina, which also has stricter cannabis laws.

N.C. Governor Roy Cooper is in favor of following Biden’s policy and decriminalizing simple possession in North Carolina and ending the stigma.

“Conviction of simple possession can mar people’s records for life and maybe even pre vent them from getting a job,” Cooper said on Friday, Oct. 7.

On Wake Forest’s campus, almost half of the student population has reported smoking cannabis before, and 26.5% of Wake Forest students report smoking on a regular basis, according to the Spring 2020 National Colle giate Health Assessment, as well as the Spring 2021 WFU Social Norms Survey.

Under North Carolina state law, almost half of Wake Forest students should have a criminal record.

Although this issue affects all Americans, African Americans are 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for cannabis possession, accord ing to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Even in states that have decriminal ized cannabis, this racial disparity still exists as far as arrests go.

66% of Wake Forest students are white, while only 8% are black. Although our stu dent population is geographically diverse and therefore brings a mix of cultural and social views on cannabis, we are not a racially di verse school.

charged for possession of cannabis based on race, giving our campus a skewed perspective on the root of America’s cannabis crisis.

In North Carolina, possession of more than 0.5 ounces of cannabis is punishable by up to 45 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines, without exemptions for medical use. Possession of more than 1.5 ounces is classi fied as a felony.

“It’s a step in the right direction in the war against unjust drug charges,” sophomore Ju lian Gideon said. “Politicians should be mak ing decisions that benefit their constituents, and legalizing weed is what many Biden vot ers want.”

Gideon, who is a Maine native, noted that legalizing weed is an issue that could inspire him to change his voter registration from Maine to North Carolina to help swing the state blue in future elections.

“Biden is making the right decision about pardoning weed charges because it seems silly having some Americans, mostly minorities, being locked away behind bars while in other parts of the country, you can walk down the street smoking a joint freely,” Winston-Salem resident and sophomore Logan Brown said.

“Although I’m in favor of legalizing weed, I think Biden’s move was purely a political showing scheduled strategically right before midterms as a last-ditch effort to get more voters,” sophomore Abby Stubelis said, tak ing an alternative view, “If the pardon only actually helps a very small portion of those convicted under federal and not state law, then it’s kind of unfair to pretend it’s going to actually help a huge group of people.”

Biden’s pardon has — at the very least — started the conversation about the ethics behind drug laws in the United States. His policies affect communities and campuses nationwide, as many draft their laws based on federal policy. Democrats and Republi cans alike will have to wait to see how this policy affects voter turnout for the approach ing midterms.

Legalizing weed should not be a contro versial issue, or really an issue at all. The sci ence and evidence support its benefits. Our world is succumbing to climate change, chil dren are in cages and nationalism is on the rise globally. Our time is better spent focus

Contact Vir ginia Noone

at

Affrmative Action

SCOTUS must uphold affirmative action

Lourdes Lopez Contributing Columnist

On Oct. 31, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) began hearing two weeks of arguments regarding the a rmative action lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) that were originally led in 2014, raising many concerns as to whether raceconscious programs should even be lawful in the United States. e last case that SCOTUS heard regarding a rmative action was Fisher v. University of Texas II, in which Fisher sued the university with the argument that the use of race as a consideration in the admissions pro cess was violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Nonetheless, it was ruled lawful for race to be considered in the admissions process. SCOTUS has held a 5-4 conservative majority for much of recent history but shifted to a 6-3 majority following Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death, signifying a change from Fisher in 2014. While the plain ti s are trying to change a system that has wor ked for more than 40 years, the new conserva tive supermajority has shown a willingness to depart from historic precedent.

e Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) groups at Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill are making the argument that race should not be considered in college admissions. e case against Harvard argues that the university is

discriminating against Asian American appli cants in the race-conscious admissions process. e plainti s accused Harvard of quantita tively measuring subjective traits like likability and kindness and thus creating what many call a “bamboo ceiling” — that is, the individual, cultural and organizational barriers impeding Asian American progress in education and the workplace — for them in admissions. e Asian American students at Chapel Hill accused the university of favoring Black, indi genous and Hispanic students over white and Asian American students in the admissions process.

Although the Supreme Court began hearing arguments this past Monday, it is unlikely that it will come to a decision prior to spring or even summer of 2023. is is yet another exa mple of the lack of e ciency and haste with which the U.S. judicial system conducts itself. ese two cases will test the conservative ma jority’s adherence to quali er paradigms. Any ruling against the current a rmative action policies could drastically change the college ad missions process and would be a controversial decision likely resulting in widespread protests and anger.

For those who belong to marginalized groups, a rmative action in the college ad missions process has been instrumental to their ability to attend university. is policy has allowed universities to create diverse com munities in which students can feel a sense

Politics

Conor Metzger Staff Columnist

New York Attorney General Letitia James recently led a civil suit against former Presi dent Donald Trump, claiming he in ated as set prices to get better deals. is suit is just one of many to have been brought against the former president and is obviously calculated for the midterm elections, in which Demo crats are projected to lose big. is has left the Democratic Party with no choice but to pivot to their old, reliable talking point to motivate their base: that the Trump presidency was a nightmare.

I’m using “nightmare” here for a speci c reason — for one, I fall into the camp that believes that Trump and his time in o ce will not be looked upon favorably in the an nals of history. I use it to draw a lesson from the records that have already been written. I wish to preface my argument by saying that Trump— a non-political media personality who decided to be president for reasons that remain unclear— was an anomaly in himself. While it is di cult to compare him with any other president, there is a key point we can take away by looking at the end of President Nixon’s term.

Nixon left o ce in disgrace, having admit ted to crimes involving break-ins, bribery and other political intrigues. It was a story that left a stain not just on him, but on the American presidency for decades to come. e American people, for the rst time, did not see a leader whom they could respect, no

matter what side of the aisle they were on. Instead, they saw a human with aws. is weight has carried into our modern-day con ception of the president, and it may be for the better. When Nixon resigned the presi dency, people were ready to viscously attack him and try him for his crimes … but this did not come to be.

In one of his rst acts of o ce, President Gerald Ford made the decision to pardon Nixon for crimes committed, meaning that Nixon was legally guilty of the crimes, but did not have to stand trial or punishment.

is decision upset people of both parties at the time, but it is now considered one of the most sel ess acts that an American president has committed. Why did President Ford do it? In his own words, he wanted “our long na tional nightmare [to be] over.”

is is where we are now — with the Dem ocrats pushing us to not forget the nightmare and the Republicans in complete denial that there ever was one. ere is an in-between, though, of remembering a memory and liv ing that memory. Right now, we are con stantly living in the memory of Trump, and we have to move on.

Of course, there are di erences between Trump and Nixon. For one, Nixon admitted to his wrongs, while Trump is adamant that there has been no wrongdoing. Also, Trump could still run again, justi ably worrying some conscientious voters. However, we have to accept a public view of looking ahead, not behind. Every new article about Trump ei ther elicits unneeded hatred from Democrats

or stokes the ames of hope for Republicans that their leader will come back and prove ev eryone wrong.

Emotion and vanity are two qualities that can be di cult to attach to a president. I raised the point earlier that Watergate led to a complete distrust in the American Presi dency, but is this good or bad? Should we place the President on a pedestal of trust? Or should we hold them accountable for their human aws?

I will be honest and say I am not sure of these answers. It would not necessarily be a bad thing if we moved in the realm in be tween these absolutes, but lately it feels like we can’t help either liking or hating whoever is in that chair. However, respect is not made up of feelings. Trump’s e ect on American politics has been complicated, but maybe we were too quick to make judgments. Maybe Democrats are to blame for only seeing his weaknesses and Republicans are to blame for only seeing his strengths. Going back to the realm of respect, this involves recognizing both fault and merit within the President.

With every new attention-grabbing head line and voter conspiracy, Trump has left his own stain on the American presidency that we will have to recognize. But most of a stain can be washed away in time, which is pre cisely what President Ford was doing. If we let it sit and grow, then that is where we have to look at our own failures as a people.

Contact Conor Metzger at metzcr19@wfu.edu

of belonging and enrichment. However, it is important to keep in mind the SFFA’s pers pective as they believe that applicants should be considered as individuals and not just as a number to meet a certain quota. e raceconscious admissions process has helped many minority groups that would otherwise have been overlooked to be accepted into a top-tier education, which is why the Supreme Court should maintain its stance and reject the argu ment that the plainti s are trying to convey. anks to the a rmative action policy that is put in place nowadays, there are many more diverse college communities that enrich and expand students’ perspectives on inclusion and diversity.

In the wake of movements such as Black Lives Matter, most universities have begun prioritizing meeting racial and ethnic quo tas. Selective universities like Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill didn't admit students of color until race-conscious admissions policies were nally implemented to make sure those students were not overlooked because of the color of their skin or ethnicity. A rmative ac tion policies have helped these students, howe ver, if they are now putting Asian American students at a disadvantage, then we are back to where we began and a new admissions process must be considered.

Contact Lourdes Lopez at lopelm22@wfu.edu

PhotocourtesyofNBCNews

PhotocourtesyofTheNewYorker

Letitia James announces law suit against Donald Trump.

Wake Forest Claims 2022 ACC Cross Country Championship

COOPER SULLIVAN Multimedia Managing Editor

For the second time in two weeks, men’s cross country was making the four-hour bus ride back from a meet in Charlottes ville, VA. For the rst time in 28 years, an ACC Championship trophy would be making the trip down to Winston-Salem too.

e Demon Deacons were narrowly favored to win the con ference title back in September but won the Oct. 27 meet in convincing fashion, nearly halving the team score of the run ner-up Syracuse.

Aaron Las Heras (23:09.2) was the rst Racin’ Deac to cross the nish line of the 8k race in third place, with Luke Tewalt (23:09.4) only a step behind in fourth. e senior and junior both notched personal bests. Graduate runners omas Vanop pen (23:12.4) and Zach Facioni (23:15.4) claimed the fth and eighth-placed spots. All four were given All-ACC recognitions after nishing within the top-21.

Facioni credited the Deacs’ race at Panorama Farms two weeks earlier for helping the team nish at the top of the po dium.

“Mentally it's a lot easier to know how it runs, where you can make moves and where you can't,” Facioni said. “One of the key things we learned from last time is it that after 5k, it doesn't really change that much. Going into this we kind of tried to use that as much as we could, making sure that we were where we needed to be at around that spot.”

Joaquin Martinez de Pinillos (23:27.7) rounded out the scoring ve in 24th, but after leading the race at the half way point, the graduate runner was worried he hadn’t given enough.

“At 6km, I started falling o a little bit so I wasn’t sure [if we would win],” Martinez de Pinillos said. “I was trying to salvage every place I could while I felt absolutely spent. I crossed the line thinking ‘oh my god, I just screwed this up for my team.’”

is would not be the case as Wake Forest ended the meet with 44 points compared to Syracuse’s 86, UNC’s 87, and two-time defending champion Notre Dame’s 92.

Head coach John Hayes was shocked by the margin of victory especially after the team’s poor start. Wake Forest

was anticipating a slower pace at the beginning which al lowed for runners from Notre Dame, UNC and Virginia to get to a quick lead. Led by Vanoppen, Martinez de Pinillos and Tewalt, the Deacs started to make their attack around the 3km mark.

“When our guys moved to the front, it looked like other people just mentally collapsed,” Hayes said. “ at’s a testa ment to how the guys prepared and what the guys did on that pace at that point in time. ey raised it a level and hurt people.”

Although the conference title is secured, the season is far from over. Focus has now shifted to regionals which will be in Louisville, KY on Nov. 11.

“ ey know we’ve got a task ahead of us, so they can only be on cloud nine for a moment,” Hayes said. “[On Sunday], we were running 16 miles about an hour south of hear on some rolling dirt roads so there’s not a lot of time to celebrate.”

Contact Cooper Sullivan at sullcg20@wfu.edu

Third quarter collapse sends Louisville over Demon Deacons

AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor

“ at was a thorough ass kicking.” at was what head coach Dave Clawson had to say after the No. 10 Demon Deacons, now 2-2 in ACC play, fell to the Louisville Cardinals 48-21.

On Halloween weekend, it truly is hard to imagine a more nightmarish game for Wake Forest. e loss was largely the result of the Demon Deacons’ third quarter meltdown, in which they were outscored 35-0 and turned the ball over six times. Wake Forest, which has been ranked No. 10 in the nation only twice (2021 and 2022) has lost in the next game twice — in 2021, UNC erased an 18-point de cit in the fourth quarter to stun the then-No. 10 Demon Deacons. e Demon Deacons sit at No. 20 in Week 9 of 2022.

“It was a disaster,” Clawson said of his team’s performance against Louisville. “I didn’t have them prepared today, and I have to sleep on that.”

QB Sam Hartman (20/35, 271 yards, 1 TD, 3 INT) was involved in each of Wake Forest’s third-quarter turnovers and did not return for the fourth quarter. In a postgame press conference, Hartman’s team threw its support behind him.

“It doesn’t matter,” LB Ryan Smenda said of Hartman. “ at’s my brother, and I love him.”

Wake Forest’s o ense started slow, only netting nine yards in the rst quarter. On the Demon Deacons’ rst drive, Hartman lost the ball after being ruled down. e original ruling on the eld was a fumble, but it was then re versed. However, a Malik Cunningham rushing touchdown and two eld goals put Louisville ahead 13-0 at the end of the rst quarter.

By halftime, Wake Forest had erased that de cit. A Jus tice Ellison rushing touchdown got Wake Forest on the board with 11:15 to go in the second quarter. Roughly six minutes later,the Demon Deacons had the lead.

Louisville almost took the lead before the half with a eld goal, but penalties negated two successful tries, and K James Turner missed from 46 yards. With the ball on its own 29, Wake Forest made it to the Louisville 15-yard-line before an attempted touchdown pass sailed over A. T. Perry’s head. During that drive, Wake Forest ran about 45 seconds o the clock — a move that seemed intentional but ba ed observ ers.

Before Louisville took full control of the game, o ciat ing was a hot topic. Toward the end of the rst half, Perry’s arm was held back as he attempted to grab a pass — the ruling on the eld was an incomplete pass, not defensive

pass interference. Wake Forest’s second touchdown, a 16yard bullet to Jahmal Banks, was reviewed because the ball might have touched the ground. e replay o cial, to the chagrin of Louisville fans, con rmed the call on the eld of a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, backup QB Mitch Gri s, who is presumed to be Wake Forest’s future starter, went 6/9 for 39 yards and a touchdown. Gri s’ touchdown pass went to freshman TE Trey Boll for ve yards.

Wake Forest will regroup and travel to N.C. State for a crucial ACC match next Saturday at 8:30 p.m. Elsewhere in the ACC, Syracuse — largely viewed as a key obstacle to Wake Forest’s hopes of an Orange Bowl berth — fell to Notre Dame 41-24 at home. UNC, however, took care of business against Pittsburgh, winning 42-24.

Clawson said that next week, and the slate of games that follow (against UNC, Syracuse and Duke) will be where Wake Forest can prove that its dismal performance against Louisville was a ghastly exception.

“We have a good football team, but we didn’t play well,” Clawson said. “I know what our football team is made of, and now we have to come back and prove it.”

Contact Aine Pierre at pierav20@wfu.edu

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics

Wake Forest shines on Senior Night

The victory gives the Demon Deacons a frst-round bye in the ACC Tournament

MATTHEW KULYNYCH Staff Writer

e Wake Forest men’s soccer team nished o the regular season with a dominant 3-0 win over the No. 9 ranked Louisville Cardinals on Friday’s senior night game at Spry Stadium. e match would decide which of the two teams would claim a rst-round bye in the ACC tournament, and with the victory, the Demon Deacons claimed the 4th seed and subsequent bye. e victory also improved Wake Forest’s record to 13-4-0 and 5-3-0 in conference play.

e night’s festivities started out with the recognition of the 2022-23 senior class. e team recognized ve seniors: defender Sebastian Scrivner (21 career appear ances), goalkeeper Cole McNally (18 appearances with 42 saves), mid elder Takuma Suzuki (59 appearances with 52 career starts), mid elder David Wrona (58 ap pearances with 14 career points), and mid elder Omar Hernandez (67 appearances with 12 goals and 14 as sists, as well as a 2021 All-ACC ird Team selection). All ve players were recognized on the eld along with their families, and received framed jerseys accompanied by loud cheers from the Spry faithful.

e festivities would have to be temporarily put aside, as the Demon Deacons had a crucial match against ACC rival Louisville to focus on. e Cardinals came into the game with a 9-3-3 record and a No. 9 rank ing in the United Soccer Coaches’ poll, so Wake Forest would have a tough test to end the regular season. For tunately for the Demon Deacons, freshman mid elder Cooper Flax returned to the starting lineup for the rst time since the 6-1 win over Clemson back in Septem ber, where he picked up an injury. Hosei Kijima was still out, being seen on the sidelines in crutches, but at least 1 major piece of a dominant Demon Deacon mid eld had returned.

Louisville looked to assert themselves from the start, putting a high press on the Wake Forest backline when the Demon Deacons had possession. e rst shot of the match would fall to Wake Forest just over ve minutes into the match, though. Dynamic sophomore Baba Niang picked up the ball in the center circle, and dribbled past 3-4 Cardinal defenders with pace. His shot from the edge of the box fell harmlessly wide of the left post, but it set a precedent for what Niang would do all night long.

Louisville’s pressure almost led to the rst goal just minutes later. Under pressure, goalkeeper Trace Al phin played a poor pass which was intercepted by a Louisville attacker at the top of the box. Fortunately for the Demon Deacons, the subsequent shot ew wide of the bottom right corner, but it was certainly a nervy moment for the defense.

Alphin made up for his earlier error with a big save in the 16th minute. A Louisville center back rose highest on a corner kick, but Alphin reacted quickly to push it wide of the post. Wake Forest would then clear and

counter attack up the other end through Baba Niang. e winger’s dribbling had been causing all sorts of problems throughout the match so far, and in this in stance, he picked the ball up at mid eld and dribbled through an assortment of Louisville defenders, ulti mately winning a corner of his own.

e game had been pretty back and forth in the rst 20 minutes, but Wake Forest thoroughly controlled the nal 20-or-so minutes of the rst half. e best chance of the half came in the 26th minute through striker Roald Mitchell. Cooper Flax pinged a perfect long ball to Mitchell, who took it down with a perfectly soft touch. He was able to hold o and beat his defender and dribble into the box, but seemed to open up his hips just a little too much, as his shot from about 10 yards out was turned away. Wake Forest had a few more big chances before halftime but was unable to beat the Louisville keeper.

e halftime whistle blew with the score still tied at zero, but the Demon Deacons would have felt as though they should have been in front. ey held an 8-5 shot advantage and had the best chances, but nonetheless, the score remained level. ough Louisville’s high press had caused a few problems, Wake Forest was generally able to play around it either through the mid eld or by sending long balls to the forwards.

e second half started a bit slow in terms of clear chances. Wake Forest dominated possession of the ball, but struggled to nd space to get the shot away. Baba Niang got the rst shot of the half in the 55th minute. He received a ball on the left side near the top corner of the box, and cut inside onto his right foot. Niang ham mered a shot towards the top right corner, but it ew a couple yards wide. Despite not yet being able to nd the net, Niang had been probably the best player on the eld, creating chances, winning free kicks, and drib bling through numerous Cardinal defenders.

Niang would be the one to nd the opener in the 60th minute. Similar to his earlier chance, Mitchell received and controlled a perfectly placed long ball by Cooper Flax, this time taking him to the left side of the box. Realizing he was at a tough angle, Mitchell made the smart decision to lay the ball o to the onrushing Baba Niang, who made a follow up run from mid eld.

e in-form mid elder wasted no time, sending a rsttime shot with his left foot into the top right corner to give the Demon Deacons a deserved lead. He was substituted after the goal, but Cooper Flax’s in uence

had been clear on the game. e freshman star cre ated chance after chance, and was a calm in uence in mid eld all game.

Just a few minutes later, Roald Mitchell found his rst goal since the 3-2 victory over Fairleigh Dickin son on Sept. 13 to give Wake Forest a 2-0 lead. An excellent bit of pressure from senior Takuma Suzuki led to a ball being popped into the air, which fellow senior David Wrona controlled perfectly o his chest on the right wing. He laid it o for right-back Cristian Escribano. e full back expertly dribbled through two defenders and passed it to Mitchell in the center of the box. e striker then pushed it onto his left and placed a shot into the bottom left corner beyond the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper. Mitchell exuber antly celebrated by putting on a Halloween mask from the crowd, visualizing how scary this Demon Deacon attack had been.

Leo Guarino put the game to bed in the 79th min ute with a perfectly placed bicycle kick which gave two seniors an assist on a corner kick. Set-piece specialist Omar Hernandez oated the corner to the back post, where stalwart mid elder Takuma Suzuki won the header and sent it back into the center of the box. Strik er Leo Guarino saw his opportunity for a spectacular goal, and he swung his leg to hit the bicycle kick into the bottom right corner.

Wake Forest was able to celebrate all ve seniors by bringing on goalkeeper Cole McNally, mid elder Da vid Wrona, and defender Sebastian Scrivner to join Su zuki and Hernandez in the 86th minute. Scrivener was instantly involved, getting a yellow card in a scu e that saw a Louisville player theatrically throwing himself to the oor just 8 seconds after coming onto the pitch. In the 90th minute, a chorus of “thank you seniors” bellowed out from the crowd to show appreciation for the seniors who had given four or more years to the program.

e nal whistle con rmed the dominant victory for the Demon Deacons, and sealed a rst round bye in the ACC tournament. is means the xture could be repeated next Sunday November 6, as Wake Forest will host the winner of Wednesday’s rst round game be tween Louisville and Virginia Tech.

Contact Matthew Kulynych at kulymh21@wfu.edu

Photo courtesy of Evan Harris/Old Gold and Black Wake Forest marches off of Spry Stadium after a dominant 3-0 win over ACC rival Louisville, to get a first round bye in the upcoming ACC Tournament.

Photo courtesy of Evan Harris/Old Gold and Black Sophomore striker Roald Mitchell celebrates his score in the 67th minute.

Wake Forest Volleyball team goes 1-1 at home

After being swept by No. 7 Pitt, the Demon Deacons sweep Virginia

EVAN HARRIS Photography Editor

e Wake Forest Volleyball team went 1-1 at home over the weekend with a 3-0 loss to #7 Pitt and a 3-0 victory against UVA. e Wake Forest volleyball team hosted the No. 7 Pitt Panthers at the Reynolds Gym on Friday, Oct. 28 after two long weeks of being on the road. De spite a tough performance against highly skilled opposition, the Deacs were unable to prevent a Pittsburgh sweep, losing the match 25-21, 25-13, 25-19. e game marked their fth loss in a row, three of their last ve losses being sweeps.

From the beginning of the rst set, Pitt maintained an early lead, pulling ahead 5-1. e rst set marked a career mile stone for graduate student Andrea Fuen tes, who recorded her 4,500th assist for Wake Forest. e Deacons started the game on the backfoot, but found their rhythm with kills by junior Olivia Fran ke, senior Emmy Ogogor, and freshman Paige Crawford, cutting Pitt’s lead to just one at 8-7. e Demon Deacons would eventually take the lead for the rst time following an ace from freshman Rian Baker. While the Deacs were able to keep it close, the Panthers showed why they are a top-10 team, going on a 4-0 run to ce ment their lead, taking the rst set shortly

afterward.

e second set performance did not have the same intensity; the Deacs made twice as many errors (10) as they did kills (5), hitting a -0.179 percentage compared to Pitt’s .370. Wake drew rst blood but was unable to keep the shifting momen tum, allowing a dominating performance by the Panthers, who took their second set comfortably.

e Deacons would put up a valiant ef fort in the third set, keeping it close until the very end. Wake remained competitive thanks to strong performances by junior Olivia Franke who led the Deacs on the night in kills (8) and blocks (3) and fresh man Rian Baker who led in assists (12). Wake kept a steady lead for their rst 12 points, going back and forth with the Panthers soon afterward. e third set featured 8 ties and 5 lead changes. e Demon Deacons were unable to hold on towards the end of play, falling in the nal set 25-19 after an unanswered Pitt scoring run. Pittsburgh extended their 15-game winning streak and retained their spot at the top of the ACC standings.

On Sunday, Oct. 30, the Deacons hosted the University of Virginia Cava liers. Wake Forest took all three sets win ning the match 25-16, 25-20, 25-23 and snapped its ve-game losing streak. e Demon Deacons made a dominating re turn to winning ways, recording an im pressive .358 hitting percentage—their second highest percentage in 2022. Five Demon Deacons ended the night with 6 or more kills, outscoring Virginia 57-38. e Demon Deacons came out with in tention in the rst set, entering the game

with a 5-0 unanswered scoring run helped by three aces by Fuentes. e Cavaliers’ attempt to keep it close was shut down by the Demon Deacons who could not be caught, maintaining a lead of at least three throughout the whole set.

In the second set the Deacs recorded an impressive .464 hitting percentage com mitting only two errors. UVA only com mitted three errors compared to Wake’s two. e Demon Deacons, however, controlled the tempo, creating a lead that Virginia would never overtake, taking set two with ease.

Both teams fought tooth and nail in the nal set. UVA opened the scoring o of a Wake error, leading the game for the rst time in the contest. e Cavaliers were unable to hold onto the lead after a 7-0 run by the Deacs put the score at 8-3. Virginia responded with a 6-0 scor ing run of their own, tying the match at 11. Both teams went back and forth in a suspenseful nish that went right down to the wire. e Deacons were able to hang on for a narrow 2 point victory in the 3rd set, sweeping the Cavaliers in front of a packed home crowd.

Wake Forest Volleyball (13-10, 5-7 ACC) will be back in action this week with two ACC conference matchups. First, the Deacs will play last-place Vir ginia Tech (2-10) in Blacksburg at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. On Sunday, the Demon Deacons host Big Four rival Duke at the Reynolds Gymnasium at 1 p.m.

Contact Evan Harris at harres22@wfu.edu

Field hockey surges past Syracuse on senior night

AARON NATALINE Sports Editor

Senior nights are naturally going to feel special. Athletes walk into their home sta dium for their careers’ regular-season na le, ready to pour the passion for their sport into a performance that aims to match the signi cance of the event.

is past Friday, Oct. 28, No. 12 Wake Forest eld hockey mesmerized those proud families, friends, and fans with a 4-0 vic tory over No. 9 Syracuse. e senior night for Wake Forest eld hockey was beyond special. e performance that the Demon Deacons put on was like no other and made for a bittersweet experience as seniors and graduates strode down mid eld with their proud families.

e matchup quickly unfolded as if the Demon Deacons were a higher-ranked, top10 squad. Maybe that should be expected with the advantage of so many families and friends present to celebrate senior players’ careers one last time at Kentner Stadium, but I just don’t know if I can chalk it all up to that— it seemed that I was simply witnessing a masterclass.

Just seven minutes into the game, Wake Forest perfectly executed a play o of a penalty corner to take an early lead. Junior mid elder Grace Delmotte sent the ball to the corner with precision to mid elder Meike Lanckohr at the center of the line.

e senior quickly positioned the ball for graduate defender Sky Carson to whip into the bottom left corner of the goal. Putting the team up 1-0, the tag team of Lanckohr and Caron celebrated their early score, but

they were far from nishing their impres sive performance on senior night.

Carson anchored the o ense all night with junior defender Lee Ann Gordon and graduate mid elder Abby Carpenter. ey were awlessly able to swing the ball among the three of them until a deeper pass opened up for an attacker.

Meike Lanchokr took advantage of a buildup not three minutes after the rst goal when she made a senior’s cut to the left side of the shooting circle to smoothly receive a pass and dribble it right up to the goal cage. Syracuse already knew to be wary of her, so defenders and goalkeeper alike focused on her as Lanchokr skipped the ball to junior forward Anna Gwiazdsinkski, who calmly red a scoring shot to bring the lead to 2-0 just under ten minutes into the game.

In the second quarter, there was less of the incredible o ensive plays that character ized the rst quarter. However, Wake For est impressed on defense to keep their lead stable going into the half up 2-0 and 3-2 in shots. e Orange attack could not help but be hindered by the defensive pressure of Lanckohr and sophomore mid elder Ash ley Hart, a duo constantly forcing turnovers on sideline attacks.

Wake Forest made swift work to claim the momentum in the second half. Six min utes in, they forced back to back penalty corners after junior mid elder Grace Del motte took the Orange o guard by leaving defenders trailing behind after a series of fake-out jabs and icks. e crowd roared as she passed right through mid eld to get the elongated attack started.

O a second penalty corner, senior mid elder Nat Friedman collected the ball at

the top of the striking circle, calming the excited o ense. en she whipped a pass to dribbling-savant Grace Delmotte, who skipped it onto sophomore mid elder Brooke McCusker right in front of the cage. McCusker icked a shot around the goalkeeper, who could only watch as Wake Forest went up 3-0.

Syracuse seemed to switch up their game plan, as they began mimicking the careful passing of Wake Forest instead of relying on dribbling it through mid eld. It seemed to pay o for better opportunities toward the end of the third, but their two best chances were thwarted by graduate mid elder Abby Carpenter and freshman forward Rachel etford.

With just under three minutes left in the game, Wake Forest saved the arguably most exceptional goal for last.. From the Demon Deacons’ side of the pitch, sophomore mid elder Ashley Hart slung an unbelievable

deep pass down the eld, the ball never leaving the ground but somehow nding junior defender Immie Gillgrass alone with the Syracuse goalkeeper. e latter came out from the cage to try to stop the ball earlier, but Gillgrass dove to get to the pass rst and swung a shot from the right side of the striking circle into the bottom left corner of the goal. I think everyone present was stunned by the play, but nevertheless, Wake Forest went up 4-0 in an expiring match against a top-ten opponent.

is victory secured Wake Forest a twoseed in the conference eld hockey champi onship. To make senior night even sweeter, seniors Sky Carson and Meike Lanckohr were named to the All-ACC rst team, and senior Nat Friedman earned placement in the second team.

Contact Aaron Nataline at nataae21@wfu.edu

The 4-0 victory against a top-10 team secures the two-seed in the ACC championship

Junior outside hitter Ashley Slater (No. 14 in black) sends down a pow erful strike on the Cavaliers. Slater led Wake Forest in kills with 10.

PhotocourtesyofEvanHarris/OldGold&Black

Senior midfielder Meike Lanckohr winds up to fire a shot. Lanckohr had two shots on goal and dished out two assists on her senior night.

PhotocourtesyofEvanHarris/OldGold&Black

OLD GOLD & BLACK

What freedom is worth

Adam Coil, coilat21@wfu.edu Josie Scratchard, scraja20@wfu.edu

A Chinese international student ruminates on issues back home

ANONYMOUS

Special to the Old Gold & Black

Editors' note: Due to the potential risks of writing on this topic, the writer has requested to remain anonymous, and their role in our organization will not be disclosed. The Old Gold & Black respects these requests out of the utmost caution for those who choose to share their stories with us. The events depicted in this account regarding the posters are as they happened in real life; the sections regarding daily routine are amalgamated from the author's day-to-day life.

She wakes up to the sound of her roommate’s alarm blaring. Her roommate has a 9 a.m. class, and her first class is at 11 a.m. She says to her roommate in Chinese, “Turn off your alarm clock.”

Her roommate doesn’t wake up, so she’s forced to get out of the warm, cozy cuddle of her blanket — a blanket that her mom had picked out that went all the way across the Pacific with her.

She turns off her roommate’s alarm for her, and she goes to pick out the outfit of the day. Noth ing too dressy— the clothes her mom got for her somehow feel weird amidst the Lululemon and Abercrombie & Fitch that the girls at school; nothing too casual— sweatpants are apparently too ca sual for the business school, as she was kindly reminded by a gradu ate student talking loudly behind her back a semester before; and nothing too uptight, of course. She spends ten minutes in front of the mirror and finally comes up with something not too gay, not too straight and not too Asian. She decides to skip breakfast for the day — she could already imagine the disapproving frowns of her parents at the news — but her peers all do it, so her stom ach, over time, conforms to the new social norm.

She gets through all of her classes and the group discussions from which she cow ers. She dreads small talk; the convo is usu ally parties, sports and — worst of all — in ternships, which she dreads. But she gets through them, and soon she is sitting in the warm, comfy chair in the Tribble main room, and her gaze falls upon the black-and-white, A4 poster that is at once vaguely and alarmingly

familiar. She almost spilled her drink on it in the urgency to pick it up. When she does, she turns it in her hands like it is a precious jewel that burns.

She doesn’t know that this pamphlet could appear in a small town called Winston-Salem in North Carolina, approximately 7,072 miles away from the main character of the pamphlet,

tion it again. But not too outside of the fire wall, so thousands residing outside the country retweet and repost them. They are hung up on banners in universities all across Europe, North America and East Asia, while the silent mass of onlookers — inside and outside the firewall — speculate and wait with bated breath on the im pact of these acts of defiance. Which are what, precisely? She reflects and realizes, with a sink ing feeling, that she doesn’t know. Who was the brave individual who had put up the banners? What will happen to him or her? Would the fu

The motherland suffocates and staggers in the chains of unreasonable policies and question able political actions, failed international contracts and abandoned promises, and all she can do is stare at the pamphlet in her hands, wishing that there was some thing — anything — that could be done.

Should she go on to print even more pamphlets? Should she write an ode to the fallen brave? Or should she stay si lent, just sit there, ponder, and get up and leave? Should she turn a blind eye to those who died, lost their families and lost their jobs due to the covid-policies? Should she pretend not to notice the heavy cloud of something that’s so painfully familiar, billowed over the head of 1.4 billion Chinese people? Should she lash out with the vengeance of a revolutionist and cry for freedom outside of the firewall?

e cold hands and trembling lips would mirror that of those within, though plas tered with grimacing smiles and feigned content. She takes out a marker and hesi tates. Should she write the national anthem?

“Rise, those who refused to be enslaved. Use our blood and bodies to build up the Alas, she has never been to the Great Wall; it has transformed from a wall that es her motherland’s border into a wall that attracts 9.9 million tourists ev ery year, which boosts the economy. A

Someone approaches her. A fel low Chinese girl. She quickly drops the pen.

“Did you print this?” she

She shakes her head al most too quickly. “It wasn’t

ey exchange a quick look between them. “It would be perfect if the formatting looked bet

She nodded in agree ment: it would be better if it were more artistical ly pleasing.Poetry would be better.

But words are words, poems are poems and freedom is freedom.

She can’t really tell which one is worth more, and which one is worth less.

"Letters Left Unanswered": A short story

SELINNA TRAN Print Managing Editor

I frequently enjoy visiting the local Barnes & Noble to have a nice, com forting place to study or catch up on some schoolwork. Oftentimes, I end up completing very little work but fnd myself occupying my time by observ ing the individuals around me.

Across from me right now is an el derly woman, looking to be around the age of 65. She just crinkled up the bag that encased her Starbucks cookie and stuffed it into the plastic cup that had previously housed the Coke that she transferred from the bottle to a cup of ice. The other inhabitants of the table at which she sits are a book, a nonde script box and a card still enveloped in its cellophane packaging.

Although the weather is upwards of seventy degrees and quite warm, she is wrapped in layers. She has been at the

bookstore for about an hour — the frst quarter spent perusing books, and the latter part spent simply sitting down at the Starbucks cafe.

I am not quite sure why I do this, but my brain lends itself to weaving these melancholic — and often depress ing — backstories for these individu als around me. For example, the lady across from me, let’s call her Donna (a name probably reminiscent of the song by The Lumineers). My mind fabri cated this entire story that explains her solitude in the bookstore today. Perhaps it’s because all of those that she loves around her have passed. A husband that she used to have — one who would bring her her favorite cookie (when he remembered) after he got off of work. They met in college, and there wasn’t much intense passion like one thinks about in romantic novels, but they had a steady love, one that was dependable.

She knew he would never hurt her, and he knew that she would always be

by his side. And she was, for the forty years they were together. They gave birth to one son and their story was an American classic. They raised him with all the love they had and sent him off to a four-year university to do “whatever makes him happy”.

Donna did not live with much excite ment, but she didn’t need it. She had a life full of stability, and it was one that she did not look back on with many memories of immense depression or sadness — but also not immense hap piness.

For the past fve years, life has been pretty much the same for Donna. Every morning, she wakes up and makes her self some coffee like she has done for most of her life. It’s probably not that good for her health, but it’s routine. She always seems to accidentally make a little bit too much because she tends to forget there’s not a second person to drink the rest.

She stops by the local bookstore oc

casionally to see if there’s something to occupy her mind. Sometimes she stops by the stationary section to po tentially grab a card to send to her son. The last twenty were unanswered. Per haps there is something wrong with the postal service — life does move at a much faster pace nowadays than Don na is used to.

Donna coughs, the Coke that she is drinking is a bit too bubbly and hits her throat in the wrong way. Still, she continues drinking. After a few pauses of looking around her, Donna gets up and looks at the children’s novels. She thinks for a moment, scanning her eyes over the jacket of the book. It is then that she remembers her son’s many (unsuccessful) attempts at bringing to life a grandchild for Donna.

She closes the book and leaves the bookstore.

Contact Selinna Tran at transn19@wfu.edu

Analyzing the style of the Wake Forest student section Football fashion in the forest

ROKSANNA KEYVAN Contributing

We have all heard about the epic highs and lows of high school foot ball. But in college, football becomes an atmosphere full of high-top sneak ers and low-rise jeans. I am, indeed, talking about college football game day fashion — particularly the outfts of our own student body.

At Wake Forest, students love rep ping the iconic gold and black. But let’s be real, gold and black are rel atively basic colors that lack the vi brancy of Clemson’s Orange or LSU’s purple. I have to admit, I am guilty of choosing to wear colors and outfts that satisfy my current mood rather than outfts that exude school spirit. And by the looks of it, I’m not alone in my choices. I can’t help but notice that our color scheme rarely takes a noticeable role in the stands.

I am not saying all Wake Forest students don’t wear school colors, because some do. Common game day colors will include black, gold, yellow, white and the occasional pat terned mix of all aforementioned col ors for many Wake Forest students. Yet, the visual impact of Wake For est’s student section is faint in com parison to that of state schools like

the University of Michigan or Indiana University. At Wake Forest, gameday student sections always boast a multi tude of colors, but these hues tend to blur together and fail to explicitly ex press a sense of unifed Deacon pride. School spirit, in general, is rather un derwhelming — with the exception of the Deacs who rep the iconic gold and black striped overalls to each gameday and to the Clemson blackout game.

That’s not to say that the outfts in the stands aren’t impressive and eye-catching (the striped-overall outfts are visually bold, memorable and my personal favorite) it's simply that Wake Forest fashion maintains a greater degree of stylistic individual ity. And for that reason, I enjoy wit nessing the gameday outfts of Wake Forest students because they aren’t afraid to put fashion frst.

So what do Wake students wear? For girls, it includes either a dress or skirt, some sort of cropped or ruched top and, most importantly, cowgirl boots. For boys, there’s the classic golf polo and khaki shorts combo. You can’t go wrong with either of these classic out fts. They’re functional, reliable, and ideal for navigating the tailgate and repping school spirit from the stadium seats.

I have heard many complaints about how all students dress the “same” at

Wake Forest when they wear the clas sic gameday outft. But if you look closely, they are all unique in their own respects. Ironically, there is only one problem with these outfts, which is that no one bothers to look closely enough. The whole idea of gameday fashion is to observe the unity of the crowd. And that’s how I believe the Wake Forest community could im prove itself — by repping fashion designed to impress viewers from a distance. Sacrifcing some individu ality has the potential to implement a visual impact on game days.

I truly adored the game against Clemson for its sense of otherworldly harmony in the crowd (I admit I am a hypocrite for saying this because I did in fact wear an orange, tiger-striped dress). This was the frst time I truly felt overcome by the strength of the Wake Forest community — united in both spirit and color — against an op ponent. It was powerful. The stu dents asserted a visual dominance while Clemson fans were overshad owed by Deacon pride — and right fully so.

So, where do our fashion outli ers make their mark? Primarily in color choice! I have attached a few paparazzi shots of Demon Deacons with exceptional outfts, and the one factor uniting all of them is their un apologetically bold colors. For me, wearing neon green and pink always works to make a visual statement. In the case of the Clemson game, wear ing an orange, tiger-striped dress in the sea of assorted black outfts def nitely drew a couple of (rather judge mental and confused) stares. Color coordination coupled with an outft that stylistically differs from the clas sic gameday outft always turns heads. Although I seem to indicate oth erwise, I feel the need to stress that monochrome unity is not essential. If the Wake Forest community can

create a powerful visual impact — even without repping the trade mark school colors — then it will succeed as a spirit base. The hard part is figuring out just how to do just that — and to also inform the several thousand students attending the game to cross-coordinate their outfits with one another. Is it pos sible? Maybe! Is it probable? Maybe not – but I am an optimist. Perhaps if someone Fizzed about dress code ideas before the next gameday, we would have better luck coordinat ing fashion in the forest. Until then, we Deacs will keep on repping our school pride in our own individual ways.

On gameday, the Wake Forest student section shows out in all black for a football game against ACC rival, Clemson.

Roksanna Keyvan/ Old Gold & Black

Roksanna Keyvan/ Old Gold & Black Bright colors stand

out in contrast to black and gold.

Writer

Contact Roksanna Keyvan at keyvr22@wfu.edu

LIFE THROUGH THE LENS

JIMENA ELMUFDI

A personal re ection on Latinx Heritage Month

JIMENA ELMUFDI Contributing Writer

During my Danish Language and Culture class last week, our professor remarked on the unwritten rules of Danish culture. Denmark is often praised for its efforts to create a homogenous society but, over the past 40 years, the sudden increase in immigration has caused quite a stir. This clash of cultures is a recurring topic of discussion and has been mentioned in every single one of my courses this semester.

My professor attempted to explain the challenges faced by immigrant families. She said that when a small group of people is placed in a new environment, they often go unnoticed. Instead of feeling exposed, they spread out and blend in. Integration is vital. However, when a large group of people enters a new environment, they take a different approach and instead form their own organized community.

I nodded as she explained her theory, thinking of how accurately this analogy described my perception of Wake Forest. However, I can only speak from my own experience as a Latin American student — I’m not look ing to generalize other students’ experiences.

Most, if not all of us international students, are choos ing to leave our home countries and immerse ourselves in a new culture for the sake of having a better academic opportunity, increasing our exposure to the renowned “American dream”. Embracing this change is part of the experience. It is usually something we want, but we underestimate how hard it is to dispose of our cultural baggage. It isn’t that we are forced to erase our cultural identity but that it feels irrelevant when surrounded by people who don’t share important parts of our personal background.

Blending in is something of which many internation al students are actively aware because, as much as we are encouraged to stand out, we all crave that feeling of belonging. To blend in, we conform. We replace a lot of the things that are not relatable to others. We put our differences aside and pick new traits that resemble oth ers around us.

Not being able to speak Spanish on a daily basis was something that felt frustrating at times; I didn’t realize how it could be considered a personality trait. It is cer tainly a weird concept, but I feel that I express myself — and therefore my character — better in my mother tongue. I understand when students stick with others from their home country, not because they refuse to have American friends, but because it is a way of seeking comfort. It is part of our intuition to stick with those who remind us of home.

I see this not only in some international students but also among faculty members at Wake Forest. The head of the Spanish department, Professor Luis Gonzalez, al ways makes an effort to foster a sense of community among Hispanic students — something that is clearly lacking. He is constantly reaching out to us, introduc ing us to other students with the same background and inspiring connections rooted in that “sameness” we are regularly searching for. I imagine he does this because he also sees the positive effect that this has on us. Per haps he also finds comfort in sharing with students that connect to his own personal background. For this, I thank him.

I came to Wake Forest with the goal of befriending mostly Latino students, seeing that this had worked perfectly for my older friends who had already left for college in the United States. I soon realized that there was no such thing as the “Latino safe haven” I had envi sioned. There is a very small Latino community at Wake Forest and, within that small community, many Latino students seem to be undercover because of how well they are able to assimilate into American culture. Since we don’t really have an established community to fall into, many international students disperse and easily embrace the American college experience. They prefer this over feeling out of place. I, too, wanted to feel like part of the Wake Forest community, but I didn’t know how to do that without losing myself by replacing everything that wasn’t in accordance with the typical “Wake vibe”.

Although I do admit that it was hard for me to adopt this, I now see the beauty in the act of blending in. Form ing connections with American students not only trans formed my experience but also helped diversify their col lege experience as well. It teaches us to accommodate to

change — a skill that is very often overlooked.

As much as we are influenced by American students, I would also argue that we bring differences that become appealing to those who welcome us. I enjoyed bringing my friends back home with me during spring break — it is always amusing to experience your hometown from a foreigner’s perspective. I hysterically laugh when I catch them incorporating Spanish words into their vocabulary because I refuse to abandon them. Listening to Latin art ists has now become a carpool karaoke sensation. These small gestures seemingly make up for the things I miss.

We are often intimidated by the controversial ideas that envelop the act of borrowing from other cultures. We are so afraid to be disrespectful that we prefer to ignore them and stick to what strictly belongs to us. Still, there are certain ways in which grasping new cultural conventions can help answer our need to carry our cultural baggage wherever we go so that we don’t feel the need to leave it behind.

Contact Jimena Elmufdi at elmujm20@wfu.edu

Photo courtesy of Jimena Elmufdi